Omaha daily bee., 1887-05-31
SONORA'S OLD MINES.
Captain Mcintyre and the Romance
OF Their Exceeding Richness.

Captain Mcintyre and the Romance
OF Their Exceeding Richness.
Chicago Tribune; Captain Allen Nc
lntyre, who runs the Lake Superior
company's steamer Peerless between
Chicago and Duluth, has just returned
from winters sojourn in Sonora, old
Mexico, where he has been for health
and pleasure. Captain Mcintyre is one
of those mentioned in the dispatches a
few days ago as having made an
important mining discovery in the Sierra
Madre mountains-the discovery, as al.
legged, being no less a series of mines
worked by early Mexicans and from
which millions were supposed to
have been taken to enrich the former
inces and the later cmperors and princes.
While there is, perhaps, more of romance
i've wealth of the Chicagoans
who are said to be Interested
in the find, Captain Mclntyre's story
of his adventures in Sonora is certainly
interesting. He comes back as brown as
q berry and with a skin as tough as n
Mexican's. He accompanied the camp
surveyors under command of eX-Lieu-
tenant Flipper, U. 5. A., the famous col
| ored West Pointer who gained such
notorlety few years ago. A Chicago
land company, which has n large MeXi-
can grant IN Sonora, employed Flipper
| and three or four others TO survey the
eastern boundary of their grant and
the jolly captain went along in a spirit
| OF adventure, and also to rough 1t awhile
| in Sonora for the benefit of his health.
| He comes back perfectly restored and
wildly enthusiastic over the climate and
resources of that portion of Old Mexico.
The captain has traversed the greater
| portion of the districts of Montezuma,
| Arispe, and Saulipaha on muleback, and
| describes the region as a land literally
flowing with milk and honey. Cattle
feed upon 4 thousand hills, and bees
swarm in the canyons and rocky fast
nesses.
As to the reported mineral discoveries,
Captain Mcintyre does not pretend to be
| authority in such matters. He brought
home several specimens of the ore from
IayOla groups, portion OF the so-called
lost mines, but to the eye of experience
in such matters the ore does not threaten
n bonanza. The ore is free milling but
the highest assay claimed for it Is $50 a
| ton, and this is carried in vein not
much over three or four feet wide. 1t is
sald, however, that much richer ore is be-
ing worked in feeble way by the Mexi-
cans IN other parts of the Tayoja group.
What interested me most" said Cap
tain Mcintyre, was the drcadfu!iy
rough country we had to traverse to get
to this terra incognita. The region lies
about 100 miles in an air line southeast of
Torres, station on the Guaymas branch
of the Atchison a. Topeka road. The
country is delightful one until you
strike foothills of the Sierra Madrc range
and then it becomes gradually wild. Our
party clambered for miles and miles,
where even the mules could hardly get a
footing"
Were the stories of Flippcr's finding
| rnnnris in ,1l r,,innI ION
correct?"
Not exactly Flipper did make the
acquaintance, however, of an American
there who had married the niece of ia
nous old padre, who lived a century or
more ago, and this American had Il large
library, containing some works over 800
years old. Flipper knows Spanish thor
these old books and manuscripts. 1t
is by that means he got an ink
ling of where to look for
the abandoned mining regions of
Guyanoca and 1ayoja. Flpper and Kruse
went after one and Nj. j. Power, a miner
IN Mexico, and myself went. for the other.
The story published of runs of villages,
arastlas, and other remains of an aban-
doned industry are correct. It was
mighty interesting to me to go through
these old workings. l believe within a
radius of mile could have counted
over 100 openings to, these ledges.
So far rs we could determine,
there are three leoges convergln1g
toward a center. have no doubt
that further development by modern
mining methods will show that these
ledges come together, though of course,
that is only conjecture. One can see
that these mines have been worked in a
most primitive method. Even now they
are not wholly abandoned. We found
one aged Mexican with burro who was
getting out ore from place where he
had tapped one of the lodges. He totd
us that his burro could carry 250 pounds
OF ore This he took some ten miles
down the stream, while another Mexican
had an arastra, and there the ore was
worked. Each cargo as he called the
burro's load, netted him about $50, but
having got that much there was no more
mining there until the money was ex-
are very valuable, but it will take heavy
capital to operate them-especially those
in the Tayoia group. They are silver
mines-much more costly to work. The
Guyanoca mines are gold, and if they are
as represented-I did not see them-tney
are undoubtedly bonanza
what other evidence did you find that
these mines were worked by the an
cients?"
80, none. but the ruined adobe houses,
the wrecked arastras, and the tunnels
that had ages ago caved There were
three or four ancient dumps through
which trees were growing and l saw one
broken arastra that had an oak tree, nine
or ten inches in diameter, running
right up through the bottom. 1t is years
and years since that arastra was worked.
But" continued the captain, II was
more struck with the agricultural and
cattle raising possibilities of Sonora than
anything else. l rode over thousands
and thousands of acres of rs fine grazing
and agricultural lands rs the sun ever
shone upon. Men without capital could
amass fortunes here in no time raising
cattle for the American market Sonora
is veritably cattleman's paradise. There
is lovely climate, abundant water, ma
tive. grasses by the league, plenty oi
shades from thousands of oaks in the
huge pastures; no snow, no cold, nc
blzzards, and consequently no loss OF
stock, Mexican herders-and no more
faithful set of workers can be found any.
where-can be hired for SO cents a day